Page 6 of The Mafia’s Girlfriend

“You know this.”

He was saying the same thing that Krista just had, but it sounded worse from him because he was the one who dictated it.

“The family stands to benefit from this alliance.”

I looked away, unwilling to give him the courtesy of my attention. An alliance would accomplish a lot. The Giordino name would reap power from associating with Vincent’s family. We would get more money, more backup. All kinds of intricate consequences my father was greedy for. I understood it, yet I didn’t want to be the key piece in any of it happening.

Is it so wrong to want to live a little? On my terms?

“Look at me, you ungrateful bitch.”

I clenched my teeth, cutting into my cheek now. Slowly facing him, I fought not to tremble with anger.

“You’re marrying him.” He pointed his thick finger at me as he blew me off. “Whether you want to or not, you will be Antonio’s bride. Hide out here. Ignore the meetings. I don’t give a shit. Come August, you will no longer be my problem.”

He stalked away, cursing as he headed back to the house. Two soldiers flanked him, dutiful to maintain his security even on our own property.

Once he was gone, I looked at Krista. She had the grace to lower her gaze to the manicured grass, perhaps embarrassed or awkward on my behalf.

“Did you hear that?”

“Dammit, Em. If you could run away—”

“I am.”

She shot to her feet, eyes open wide with shock. “What?”

“You heard him. He doesn’t care where I am, what I do. Until August.” I lifted my chin higher. I couldn’t get out of this marriage, but I’d be damned if I didn’t try to live as much of my life as I could until then. “So, let’s hide. Let’s get away.”

She slowly grinned, catching on.

“We’ll go to one of his hotels and have some fun.”

“One last hurrah?” she guessed, excited now.

“Maybe one first hurrah.” I started to smile. “Maybe I can still lose my virginity on my own terms.”

Her eyes practically bugged out. “Shit. Sis, no. Antonio would—”

I held up my hand. He’d be furious. “It’d be worth it.”

She giggled, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. “You’re serious?”

“Absolutely.” Who knows...maybe I can find a way to stall this damn wedding after all. Now that the timer was ticking faster, I was itching to think up an alternative future for myself.

“What about the Tropican?” she asked. “Closest to the best clubs.”

I nodded. My father owned the Tropican resort through a few layers of shell corps, but he wouldn’t expend the effort to have a full security team trail me there.

“Ooooh.” She shimmied, already getting giddy at the prospect of partying. “One last summer of fun with my bestie.”

“Can you manage to stop your little crush on Justin and sacrifice being there that long?” I teased.

She blew a raspberry. “Who needs men?” She winked, linking her arm with mine to guide me back to the house. “Let’s go have some fun.”

You mean while I can?

I’d never been much of a partier, not like her. My goal was to hide and avoid my father and his expectations of me for as long as I could. But maybe she could rub off a little of her extroverted attitude on me while we were at the resort.